Kazakhstan's “New Silk Road”

Eyes on the road

Becoming Central Asia’s crossroads

THE authoritarian leadership of Kazakhstan has long hankered after international recognition. It sets great store by league tables, wanting the country to become one of the world's top oil producers and to be counted among its 50 most competitive economies. Helping thwart their ambitions has been Kazakhstan's creaking infrastructure, particularly its roads.

A few main road arteries have been refurbished—eg, from Almaty, the largest city, to the capital, Astana and to Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan. But some 60% of roads need big repairs. Even where they have been fixed, notably in the big cities, the work is often so poor that they need to be repaved two or three years later.

But in this respect too the government is thinking big. This week the Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced a $700m loan to improve part of a 2,715km (1,700 mile) road from China in the east to Russia in the west. It is part of a bigger, $6.7 billion project, co-financed by other international institutions, due to be completed by 2015. Juan Miranda of the ADB says it will increase travel speed by 40%, and reduce freight-transport costs by half. Despite the current financial crisis, road-freight transport is forecast to grow by about 10% a year, and the number of vehicles by 5%. The road should be a big boost to the economy of Kazakhstan and the region: “a new Silk Road”, boasts Mr Miranda.

It may even help Kazakhstan's abysmal ranking in another league table: for road-safety standards. More than 2,000 people are killed in accidents every year. Between 2005 and 2007, this figure has gone up by more than 19%, thanks to speeding and a lack of security barriers, lighting, and police oversight. Poor medical facilities on the long roads of a vast country make it more likely accidents are fatal.

The authorities, conscious that this is hardly the record of a developed country, are at last making serious efforts to improve road safety. Since August, traffic rules have been tightened and the requirement to wear a seat belt is being enforced. Fatality rates are already said to have dropped by around 10%.